Buckle.



No. 775.176. PATENTED NOV. 15, 1904. N. JOHNSON & F. PEARSON.

BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.19,1904.

N0 MODEL.

)[Zs (M45077) Inventors, b9 7* Attorneys Patented November 15, 1904;

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NILS JOHNSON AND FREDERICK PEARSON, OF STAR PRAIRIE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-HALF TO ANNIE O. JOHNSON, OF STAR PRAIRIE,

WVISOONSIN.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 775,176, dated November 15, 1904.

Application filed April 19, 1904. Serial No- 203,938. N0 modelfi To (0Z6 whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, NiLS JOHNSON and FREDERICK PEARSON, citizens of the United States, residing at Star Prairie, in the county of St. (Iroix and State of lVisconsin, have invented a new and useful Buckle, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to buckles, and has for its object to provide an improved buckle especially adapted for use in connection with harness and constructed with a minimum of projections, so as to avoid catching or hanging of the buckle in portions of a harness and in the inane and tail of an animal.

It is furthermore designed to provide for conveniently attaching the present buckle to an intermediate portion of a strap, particularly where the ends of the strap are fixed or fastened to other elements and cannot be detached and run through the frame of the buckle.

\Vith these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a buckle embodying the features of the present invention with a strap terminally connected to one end of the buckle and another strap intermediately connected thereto. Fig. 2 is a perspective view with the intermediate tongue-carrying cross-bar swung out wardly to permit of the introduction of the bite portion of a strap into the frame of the buckle preparatory to engagement with the tongue. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the buckle with its tongue in its normal position. Fig.

a is a side elevation showing the bite portion or bend of a strap in position for engagement by the tongue of the buckle.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each and every figure of the drawings.

The frame of the present buckle is substantially rectangular in form and includes longi tudinal side bars 10 and 10 and end bars 10 and 10. Located substantially midway between the ends of the buckle-frame is an intermediate cross-bar 12, which has one end pivotally connected to one side bar of the frame in any suitable nianneras, for instance, by having one end formed into a hook 12, loosely embracing a reduced intermediate portion of the side bar 10. The free end of this crossbar is cleft longitudinally to form a springfork, the members 14: and 15 of which are provided upon their under sides with corresponding notches 14 and 15, respectively. In the longitudinal bar 1O there is formed a dovetailed notch or seat 11, which is disposed to have the forked terminal of the bar 12 snapped thereinto, with the notches 14C and 15 registering with the notch 11, so as to bring the top of the cross-bar below or flush with the top of the buckle-frame, the end walls of the recesses 1 1 and 15 snugly embracing the inner and outer sides of the side bar 10, so as to connect the intermediate portion of the opposite sides of the frame. To insure a snug fit between the fork members of the cross-bar 12 and the inclined walls of the seat 11, the outer sides of the fork members are beveled or inclined upwardly or inwardly, whereby the end walls of the seat overhang the fork members and prevent looseness and accidental disengagement thereof. An ordinary tongue 13 is terminally pivoted to the crossbar 12 and is of a length to have its free end lie upon one of the end bars of the buckleframe.

In the applicationof the buckle, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 4: of the drawings, 16 designates a strap terminally connected to the end bar 10", while 17 designates another strap which has an intermediate portion connected to the buckle. To engage the strap 17 with the buckle, the pivotal cross-bar 12 is swung upwardly and outwardly, so as to leave the interior of the buckle-frame unobstructed to receive the bend or bite portion 17 of the strap, which is thrust upwardly through the frame from the bottom thereof to an extent sufficient to permit of the crossbar 12 and tongue 13 being returned through the bend of the strap, so as to engage the forked end of the cross-bar with the seat 11, after which the tongue 13 may be raised for engagement with a perforation in the strap 17, as indicated in Fig. 4, and then the strap 17 is drawn tight, so as to bring the tongue 13 down against the end bar 10 as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, whereby the strap 17 is intermediately connected to the buckle without running the free end of the strap through the buckle. It will now be under,- stood that it is not necessary to run the free end of a strap through the buckle in order that the latter may be connected to an intermediate portion of the former, as the strap may be bent at the point to which it is desired to apply the buckle and then passed through the frame thereof and finally engaged with the tongue in the manner hereinbefore described. Hence a strap which has its ends connected to another element may have the buckle of the present invention applied to an intermediate portion thereof without disconnecting one end of the strap and running the same through the buckle.

From the foregoing description it will be noted that the buckle of the present invention has a substantially rectangular frame of the form now commonly employed in buckles of general use, particularly harness-buckles, whereby the present buckle is capable of universal use, and by reason of the movable intermediate cross-bar 12, which is permanently connected to the frame and capable of being moved to a position to leave the interior of the latter unobstructed, the buckle may be conveniently attached to an intermediate portion of a strap without running the strap entirel y through the buckle. Furthermore, the buckle is substantially free from projections, and therefore is not liable to become caught in any of the straps of a harness or in the hairs of the mane and tail of a horse.

Having thus described the construction and operation of our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In a buckle, the combination of a frame,

a cross-bar pivoted to one side of the frame, and a tongue carried by said cross-bar.

Q. In a buckle, the combination of a frame comprising side and end bars, a cross-bar pivoted to one of the side bars and engaging the other side bar, and a tongue carried by the cross-bar. I

8. In a buckle, the combination of aframe comprising side and end bars, a cross-bar pivoted to one of the side bars of the frame and interlocking with the other side bar of the frame, and a tongue carried by the cross-bar.

4. A buckle, comprising a frame having a recess formed in one side thereof, a cross-bar pivoted to the opposite side of the frame and having its free end cleft longitudinally to form a spring-fork for engagement with the recess of the frame, and a tongue carried by the cross-bar.

5. A buckle comprising a frame having a recess formed in one side thereof with the end walls of the recess inclined toward the outer open side thereof, a cross-bar pivoted upon the opposite side of the frame and having a longitudinal cleft in its free end forming a spring-fork capable of being snapped into the recess beneath the inclined end walls thereof, and a tongue carried bysaid crossbar.

6. A buckle comprising a frame having a recess formed in one side thereof, a cross-bar pivoted to theopposite side ofithe frame and having a longitudinal cleft formed in the free end thereof to provide a spring-fork capable of being snapped into the recess of the frame, the under sides of the fork members having corresponding recesses to lit the recess of the frame, and a tongue carried by said cross-bar.

7. A buckle comprising a frame, an intermediate cross-bar loosely and permanently carried by the frame and capable of being moved to a position to leave the interior of said frame unobstructed, and a tongue carried by the cross-bar.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto afiixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

NILS JOHNSON. FREDERICK PEARSON.

Witnesses:

GUST ARNEsoN, AUs'rIN DENNING. 

